What's to Come in 2014!

I return to school in two weeks, so I hope to be able to keep up writing on the blog for both myself and any reader out there. I've realized I need to get back into the swing of writing action reviews. Therefore, I thought I would list some ideas of specials and reviews I have been wanting to do soon. More ideas will come to mind, but this is what I have thought of for now. A schedule will make me more productive as well. Expect new theatrical releases and new catalog blu ray releases to be added to the months as well!

Face...OFF!

Specials:
Summer Blockbuster Face/Off Season: In the summer, I am going to review new summer films and some of my favorite old summer blockbusters too. I'll talk about the place of the summer blockbuster in action history, their pros and cons, and what I think are truly the best summer blockbusters ever made. A good example would be that I will review The Amazing Spider-Man 2. For an old blockbuster though, I can do Sam Raimi's Spider-Man.

Action Profiles and Franchise Pages: I would like to bring complete and up to date pages that detail various franchises and action profiles. For a franchise, I will list all of the films in a franchise and link reviews to those as well. Action profiles will select stuntmen, actors, musicians, editors, writers, and directors who have helped to shape the action cinema that we know and love today. I will list every action film I have seen of this figure and mention what is arguably their definitive piece or pieces of work. Examples include actor Franco Nero, director John Woo, stuntman Yakima Canutt, and composer Hans Zimmer.

Criterion brings the goods this January.

Reviews:
January:
Thief (1981) - One of the great action directors, Michael Mann, started off his career of making every film take place in Los Angeles with this stylish neo-noir. Starring James Caan, I am super excited to watch this for the first time in a few days with Criterion's new Blu Ray release of the film.

Django, Kill (1967) - This bizarre combination of gothic and acid western looks to be one of the most bizarre Euro-Westerns ever made. Starring Thomas Millian, I eagerly await the chance when I can sit down to this Blue Underground release soon.

RoboCop (1987) - One of the greatest action films of all time gets its big 4K remaster this month. It'll be my first time seeing the film in a long long time. Expect a good review on this one. The film represents everything I love about action.

Non-Stop thrills. Non-Stop action. Case in point: Non-Stop.

February:
Dredd 3D (2012) - A return to the days when R-rated comic book heroes (i.e. Blade, The Punisher, The Crow) kicked major ass and showed us that simplicity was the best way to make an action film. My favorite comic book film of 2012 over both The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises.

The Big Racket (1976) - This action packed Enzo G. Castalleri crime film is filled to the brim with awesome gun fights and great slow motion. It reminded me of a large scale vigilante film like Death Wish 3. However, this is much better than Death Wish 3.

Non-Stop (2014), New Release! - Liam Neeson is back to kicking ass! And on a plane in the veign of Con-Air, Air Force One, and Passenger 57. Neeson needs a good comeback action film. While this looks cheesy, it has a simple premise and will hopefully allow Neeson to remind us why he is one of the great contemporary action icons.

Iko Uwais and Gareth Evans. Here we go again.

March:
The Boondock Saints (1999) - The overhyped and ridiculously popular cult vigilante action film will get a review on here. Besides, it's the perfect Saint Patrick's day action film to go along with the holiday's own month. I have wanted to revisit this film for a long time and hope to put the nail in the coffin once and for all about my opinion on the flick - Unrated Cut

Need for Speed (2014), New Release! - I have very high hopes for this supposedly very practical car chase film. It looks like more of a throwback to the good old days of the '70's. Plus, I have a great feeling it can't suck because Aaron Paul is the star of the film. For those who don't know, I loved Breaking Bad. Paul is one of the coolest actors working today so to see him headlining an action film is very exciting! Looking forward to this one to fulfill my car desire with no Fast and Furious this year.

The Raid 2: Berandal (2014), New Release! - The sequel to the insanely violent but thrilling The Raid is here. I fear this film may push the boundaries of action violence into gory horror territory. However, the film looks like it will hold the record for the most action to story ratio ever. Some of the fist fights and shootouts and car chases and...oh geesh this film has everything. Be prepared come the end of March. The action community will feel an earthquake once this film drops.

Jack is back to die hard and live another day.

May:
24: Live Another Day - 24 is back! The definitive action television program, 24, will return with a half season of only 13 episodes. Jack Bauer will be back and hopefully kicking more butt and racking up more of a body count than ever before. I am going to review each episode of this new series because 24 is the definitive action T.V. show. It's kind of like Die Hard for T.V. I wish Kiefer Sutherland would do more action films outside of just this role as well. He makes a great action star.